Japanese sushi tei (sushi train) restaurants are increasing in popularity. In these restaurants, ready to eat food servings (eg. different types of sushi, sashimi, buns, Chinese wet dim sum, etc.) in bases (eg. saucers or bowls) are conveyed across long dining tables in front of customers via a conveyor belt. In other similar restaurants, the bases are placed on top of model train platform carriages which are towed by a model train running on tracks. Customers sit side by side along the long tables facing the conveyor belt or model train and select their own food items by taking the food serving bases from the conveyor belt or train.
Different food servings are usually placed on different colour/pattern bases to denote the price of that particular food serving. After a meal, the customer's bill is calculated by adding the serving prices of all the different colour/pattern bases.
In these restaurants, it would be desirable to maintain food freshness as much as possible. Often, the conveyor belts or train tracks of such restaurants can stretch for more than 50 meters, as they, for example, travel along one side of a first table, down the other side of the first table, to the kitchen, around both sides of a second table and then back to the kitchen and the first table. The food servings can therefore travel and be exposed to normal room temperature for a considerable period, especially if such food servings are not selected by customers. It is therefore important for quality control to ensure their freshness to gain customer satisfaction.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a system for food management which addresses one or more of the above issues and which provides advantages over the prior art.